April 28, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
A 61-year-old Hermitage man lost his life in a motorcycle crash Saturday afternoon on Highway 96 (Dale Ridge Road).
Dead is William Couch.
According to Trooper Mitchell Gibbs of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Couch was on a Kawasaki 650 when he lost control near the 9-mile marker on Highway 96 (Dale Ridge) Road at around 4:46 p.m. The bike went off the road, struck an embankment and came to rest partially in the highway and a ditch.
Couch, wearing his crash helmet, was lying near the motorcycle. He was taken by ground ambulance to a helicopter landing zone and flown to Vanderbilt Hospital where he died. Couch had been on the bike alone but his riding partner on another motorcycle ahead of him turned around and discovered the crash after he glanced back and didn’t see Couch.